Thursday, 28 October 2010

Vintage Parlour Guitar with Hopf pickup

I'm the first to admit I don't know much about parlour guitars (except that they are smaller. I know that much) and I'm not entirely convinced this seller does either but here's what he says..."Rare, pre war parlour guitar with extremeRARE HOPF SPEZIALpickup system made in Germany in the 1920s/1930s. The guitar is made of solid woods: (spruce top , maple body, maple neck) with rare HOPF SPEZIAL pickupThe instrument comes from my collection ! The guitar was not repaired or modified. Everything is in original condition."

And it is, as any self respecting haus frau would say, dirty, dirty, dirty!

Too right it's in original condition (assuming the original owner lived outdoors for the last 70 years and assuming the manufacturer included in the original spec, a twisted metal bar, a chunk of grey plastic cable, an old on/off switch and volume knob from grandad's valve radio and an old metal box all screwed to the front of the instrument).

At 750 Bucks (478 Sovs to us Limeys), this seller is definitely in the "optimistic" end of the market. A couple of months back I eBayed one of these pickups with a Hofner logo plus a chromed scratchplate with two more pickups in the same design with the Ideal logo for about £100 including delivery. Discounting £100 (to be generous) for the extremely rare pickup that leaves us with about £378 for an unknown (though admittedly oddly attractive) make of acoustic guitar in dubious condition with a big crack and various holes drilled in the front. Get on over to eBay and hit that BIN button before I do!